Embodiment and Curriculum Inquiry
(5)

Class Number: 1500

Delivery Method: In Person

Course Times + Location:

Instructor:

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

The scholarship on embodiment and its implications for the body as a site for knowledge and its relationship to contemporary curriculum inquiry will be studied with specific emphasis on the area of performative and narrative inquiry and arts education. Central to this course will be the investigation of embodiment from both a philosophical perspective and a literary/poetic perspective. Equivalent Courses: EDUC712

COURSE DETAILS:

Each class will consist of lecture, group discussion, writing, practices of physicality as movement/dance, walking, and connection to the natural world. There will be opportunity to integrate site-specific work in different areas of the Lower Mainland. It is important to note that we will often meet in other locations in order to facilitate the connection to physicality and creation as well as access to a dance studio. We may need to negotiate meeting earlier a few times, to accommodate attendance at galleries, performances and field trips. A detailed schedule will be given out in the beginning of the semester.

Meeting Dates & Times

Summer May 7-July 23 Tuesdays, 4:30-9:20 p.m.

Classes will be at SFU Surrey campus, Rm. 3270 with several field trips. Below are any classes that include a partial or full off site-trip. Specifics to follow during class.

May 21 Holland Park, Surrey, across street – walk and write. May 28 Guest: Dr. Barbara Bickel 4:45-6:00 at SFU Surrey 7-9 pm. Field trip to Ashley Chow’s class year end dance recital. Michael J Fox Theatre, 7373 Macpherson Avenue, Burnaby. June 18 – Vancouver Art Gallery http://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/. July 3 – 5 there will be an Embodied Arts Retreat on Sunshine Coast. July 9 2-5 p.m. we will meet at 2:00 at UBC Botanical Garden https://botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/ for a performative walk led by myself following a field trip to Bigsby the Bakehouse, 4894 MacKenzie St, Vancouver.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

This course will examine the scholarship on embodiment and its implications for the body as a site for knowledge and its relationship to contemporary curriculum inquiry, specifically in the area of embodied ways of inquiry. Central to this course will be to look at embodiment from a philosophical perspective, a literary/poetic perspective and a visceral perspective rooted in movement, dance, walking and physicality in a variety of forms, and even our limitations. Particular attention will be given to the relationship between philosophies of the body and their relevance to us as researchers, educators, artists, and human beings. The mind-body dualism will be examined and its impact on how research is enacted, and how we enter the practice of teaching and reflect on our practice. The notion of "bodily attending" will be developed both for reflexivity, moving, writing, and pedagogy. This course will give opportunity to explore the various ways the body has been inscribed by political, social, and cultural factors. A major question will concern how an informed understanding of embodiment can have pragmatic influence on the way we experience knowledge and articulate knowledge and its importance for the artistic process. The student will have opportunity to relate the notion of embodiment to his/her particular research and integrate performative, narrative and poetic writing to articulate knowledge, which is situated in bodily experience. The class will integrate galleries, performances and the natural world as part of the cultural lens where we will explore issues of embodiment. This course will be based on the SFU Surrey campus, and take advantage of a variety of venues within the Lower Mainland connected to our collaborative inquiry.

NOTES:

1. Body narrative 20% These body narrative pieces will be developed out of exploring the relationship between the body, memory and narrative. This can also consist of prose, poetry, essay, or poetic prose. DUE: May 28

2. Class Presentation 20% This is an opportunity for you to lead the class in a short session 20-minute session, which explores some of the embodied practices that connect to your research and artmaking. This also can be a beginning to your final bodygraphy. They are meant to work together. DUE: Throughout Class

3. Bodygraphy including presentation 60% This assignment is a project that includes your writing, performative work, and growing perceptions/understanding of how the body intersects research, writing, teaching, and aspects of being. There is room within this piece to include various artistic representations, ie. film, video, dance, drama, reader’s theatre, visual work, poetry, prose, or performance art, as well as essay writing. It is understood that within this piece there will be reference to scholarly and artistic resources, which have informed your understanding of embodiment and how that informs your practice. This assignment combines a major research inquiry with your oral presentation, so you will present your work to the class. You will be required to pass in an outline, which provides an explanation of what you are presenting. Oral presentations will be done during the last few classes, although if you have a workshop connected to your presentation you can schedule that section earlier. It is encouraged to think out of the box for this assignment, and integrate your artist/performer/creator and use this as an opportunity to create a piece from your embodied inquiry. Due: July 16 and July 23Bodygraphy is a term that I am utilizing which is a combination of embodied ways of inquiry, which have an autobiographical component and arts-based educational research methods in order to create an intertextual piece, which expresses the depth of your embodied learning and how it connects to you personally and professionally. Writing from the body practice in and out of class It will be expected that you write as a group with the class in each session and at certain times bring your writing to the larger group. You will also be expected to write daily and bring small segments of your work to the class. You will also be required to take an hour of solitude (bodily mindfulness) a week, which your writing can emerge from. This will be explained during the first class.

Registrar Notes:

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html